President:
In the name of God, I salute you and thank you for taking the time to read my story. My name is Ginette Thomas and right now I live in Haiti, my beloved native country, where I feel my help is much needed. I was born in a small town where there is not much in terms of infrastructure or even enough to satisfy the population's bare necessities. Among those of us who were born there, some have left or moved to a different town where our parents had the opportunity to provide for us. When I went home to a little town called Charlier in the Grand-Anse department of Haiti for the first time after nearly 20 years in the United States, my heart was broken to see how deprived, hungry, and sick the kids were. A burning desire was stirring inside of me to do unto those kids, what has been done unto me in terms of the blessings I was bestowed upon, living in the US. But my resources are extremely limited.

After thinking hard about it, I realize that the best way for me to gain the credibility and the help I need to begin my work I need to found an organization that is recognized by the State of Georgia, my place of permanent residence, as a non-profit organization whose mission is solely to help children in Haiti and around the world. When I shared my vision with my pastor and friend, Jean-Jacques Medastin, he was doubly saddened because he shared the same pain, but encouraged by my vision. As a result, my pastor and I met and decided to work on the incorporation of 'Help for the Children'. Living in the countryside and the outskirts of the city, the children have no access to education or healthcare. Usually, those children come from poor families or the school is so far away that they cannot afford to go. We have taken on the responsibility of helping to build a school to try to educate them as per our capabilities as their ticket to some kind of freedom from poverty. To expand this program and help more needy children, we are requesting of you some monetary contribution so that we can teach more children and establish a feeding program within the school. To carry forward our ambitious projects, we desperately need your financial contribution as well as any other type of help you can provide. Any monetary donations are welcome and we will be highly obliged to you for your support. We're not only in need of education but also in medical services and facilities. The clinic on that town is approximately three hours away by foot and about an hour drive. Just imagine someone with serious medical needs and no means of transportation trying to make it to the clinic. We want children to feel safe in their own neighborhood; we want them to feel free to go to a school that is less than one hour of walk and have something to eat when they return home from school.

Vice-President of Operations and Planning:
Jean-Jacques Medastin, a native of St Marc, Haiti is married to Linda Medastin. The family is blessed with two wonderful children, Fabrice and Daitza. Jean-Jacques is an educator and a servant of the Living God.

He accepted the 7th Day Adventist message on October 3, 1982, at the age 18, and joined the church right away. Feeling compelled to preach the 3 angels' message to whomever cared to listen, he decided to complete his high school education at the Adventist seminary of Port-au-Prince, commonly referred to as Diquini, with the goal of studying theology upon graduation. Unfortunately, or perhaps it was not God's will at that time, soon after his enrollment in the school of theology he fell ill and had to withdraw. Meanwhile, his wife who was living in the US filed for him to join her. Upon his arrival in New Jersey in 1989, he enrolled at Essex county college and later transferred to Kean University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. After changing his mind about going to medical school, which carried him to Georgia in 1996, he returned to school and obtained a Masters' degree in Information Technology. Upon graduation he accepted a teaching position at American Intercontinental University. From 2001 to 2009 he held a position of Professor of information Technology at Clayton State University where he continues to serve as an adjunct professor while he is pursuing of doctoral degree in Educational Technology.

His love for the Lord and for His people, however, has kept him busier in the church and in the community than in his own career. While serving at Salem, the legitimate parent of Ephese where he was called to serve as a volunteer pastor in 2009, as head elder, he accepted the call to serve as a member of the South Atlantic Executive Committee from 2002 to 2006. Shortly after, he received a call to serve as member of the Southern Union Executive Committee and had the privilege to join its staff in August 2008 on a mission to San Salvador to preach the gospel. Over 1000 people gave their souls to Christ through the preaching of the group which he was a member of. He recalls that this trip was one of his most gratifying experiences in the service of the Lord.

He has never been able to say no when it comes to the Lord' work, especially to serve those in needs, and he will never say no when He calls. He is a servant of the Lord and His people.

Vice-President of Finance and Community Affairs:
Robin holds a doctorate in political science from Kent State University and previously served as a faculty member at the University of Maryland, San Antonio College and Kent State University. She received a BA from Otterbein College in Westerville, OH and an MA from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. Prior to joining the staff at The Faith & Politics Institute, Robin worked at Sojourners in Washington D.C., where, for 10 years, she held positions within the Policy/Organizing, Marketing Departments and as the director of the Intern Program. She is originally from NE Ohio and has lived in Texas, New Mexico, Germany, as well as South Korea.

Robin began doing service trips when she was a teen-ager and has continued to work with Appalachia Service Project throughout the SE United States, Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, MS for post Hurricane Katrina clean up and rebuilding efforts and most recently, with the Fuller Center for Housing in Haiti. Robin lives in Annapolis, Maryland with her husband, John Sankey. Together, they have 5 children and 3 granddaughters.

Vice President of Development and Volunteering:
John's professional background is in the area of civil engineering with a concentration on geotechnical and materials design/construction. His current position is Vice President with The Reinforced Earth Company, which is a specialty retaining wall company with parent company in France. He oversees the Engineering Department for USA operations in the Vienna, Virginia Corporate office and represents the company internationally as well. Currently he holds professional engineering licensure in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

Other than trying to keep up with his large family, he has volunteered in multiple home repair and design/construction projects in the USA and internationally since 1995. His more recent volunteer involvement since 2006 has been with Engineers Without Borders (EWB). EWB is a university-based organization where professional engineers are teamed with local university students. Currently, he works with students from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University to assess, design and assist in construction of infrastructure projects in rural areas of developing countries. The EWB volunteer design and construction projects that he has been most involved in (including in-country work) were in Ecuador (latrine construction in remote Andes mountain townships), Thailand (2km water supply line for remote orphanage near Mumbai border), Peru (chlorinated water supply system including large concrete water holding tank in remote Andes village) and more recently in Ethiopia (pedestrian and vehicular bridge to connect remote village to local township market).